The Man United star who dribbled like Messi but tragedy struck when he was 26

The tragic death of Adrian Doherty didn't command too many column inches. The 26-year-old fell into a canal in The Hague, Netherlands and spent a month in a coma before slipping away on June 9, 2000.

The newspapers in England were far too preoccupied with England's build-up to Euro 2000. It was an England team featuring David Beckham, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers - the ones who made it at Manchester United.

But for the cruelty of fate, Doherty would surely have stood alongside the Class of '92 in Old Trafford folklore.

Emerging at United just a year or two before those stars, Doherty was considered the superior of Ryan Giggs, who often tore down the opposite flank in their academy teams.

Those who watched the teenager in action described Doherty at 16 as 'the next George Best' and not only because he hailed from Northern Ireland.

His manager Alex Ferguson believed Doherty 'ticked all the boxes' to make it to the highest level and was on the brink of putting him in his team.

Even Giggs used to glance across the pitches of United's old training ground, The Cliff, in awe.

'As a player he was electric, his speed off the mark was frightening really,' said the Welshman, no slouch himself, to the BBC in 2016.

But Doherty was destined never to experience the success and acclaim experienced by Giggs, Beckham, Scholes and the incredible generation of talents who formed the backbone of United's 1990s and 2000s dominance.

Just days before Ferguson had intended to hand Doherty a senior debut - making him the club's youngest outfield player since legend Duncan Edwards - he suffered a severe knee injury during an 'A' team fixture with Carlisle United.

When Doherty's cruciate ligament finally healed, he just wasn't the same player and